I include the link to Segulla because they did an interview with me that you can read if you are interested.

While I am waiting to move into my new studio/barn, I am busy painting at Ella Peacock’s home, now owned by good friends Dave and Karen Ericson of Salt Lake City, UT. Thanks for letting me work there! Dave is also my gallery representative in Utah. He bought Ella’s home from her several years before she died, and let her stay there rent-free as long as she wanted. That was very good for Ella. It feels good spend time there again. Lots of memories have surfaced of visits with Ella. The Ericsons have changed it very little since she was there. However, I am looking forward to moving into my new studio soon.

New painting studio as of 1-10-09

Cliff Mott (owner of Topkote Inc.) is doing the interior/exterior painting on the studio/barn for me. He is also finishing the wood floor in the painting studio. Today he is running the big drum sander on the floor prior to staining and the finishing it next week. Most of the wood trim is filled and primed. Things will start to move quickly now. Cliff is a consummate craftsman and goes the extra mile on the prep work before painting. It seems like the job is going slow, but what it means is that the paint job will look absolutely fantastic and won’t need to be done again for many years. If you need exterior or interior painting on your property, you would be wise to hire Cliff. 435- 851-2723. He is pleasant to work with, has good ideas and like I said before is an incredible craftsman. He is a one man operation as the kind of work he does you can’t just turn over to a crew of people who don’t know what they are doing or don’t care. Sometimes he will hire someone to help him, but he is always there working and over seeing the project.

Here are some photos of my recent work. The only ones that are done or close to done are the first two, the little dog, and the canyon moonrise with the yucca blooms. The others range from the drawing stage to half way done. Please know that these are taken with my little camera and the quality is not very good. There is a lot of glare on them, but I hope you enjoy just seeing what they look like in progress.

This year we made Mexican pickled Carrots for a Christmas treat to give to neighbors and friends. Something to counter balance the onslaught of sweets that seem to flow into the house in the month of December!

I learned to make these from my mom. She figured out how to make them about 30 years ago. We often ate at a great Mexican restaurant in Winton, California called the “Tequila Café”. Along with delicious chips and salsa on the table as appetizers, they also served pickled carrots. My mom asked for the recipe and was told that was not something that they would give out. So mom just started thinking about it and came up with what she thought the ingredients might be and it what proportions. One of the waitresses was kind enough to answer with a yes or no, if an ingredient was right or not. When she had all the ingredients figured out she then let her ask about the process as well. After a few batches and more yes and no sessions with thewaitress, she had it dialed and the pickled carrots have been a staple at our home ever since. I have no problem sharing recipes and since many of you have asked for it I decided to put it up here where you can easily find it.

Pickled Mexican CarrotsAda Udall

5 pounds carrots, sliced 1/4” on a diagonal.

Put carrots in boiling water w/ 1 TBS salt for about 5 minutes till done but not soft. Test for the degree of crispness you want, then remove/ drain from hot water and put into a sink of ice water. You don’t want limp soggy pickles, but not too crisp either. Keep an eye on them and keep checking them and pull them off when they feel right to you.

In another pot put:

4 cups water

2 cups cider vinegar

2 TBS salt (I use pickling salt if I have it.)

Bring to a boil.

Open a small can of pickled jalapeno peppers. Use 1/4 cup of the liquid in the vinegar solution.

Slice 2 or 3 peppers into julienne strips.

Slice 1/2 white onion and

2 garlic cloves, peeled.

In a gallon jar, or several smaller ones that will equal a gallon, put down a layer of carrots, a few peppers, onion slices and garlic slices. Sprinkle a bit of cilantro and oregano on top and repeat starting with the carrots until all ingredients are used up. Pour hot vinegar solution over all and add 1 TBS olive oil on top and let stand for at least three days. You can repack into smaller jars or just eat them out of the big one. They will keep in the fridge for a few weeks. I have actually found a jar from last year in the root cellar and we opened it up and they were great! At room temp I don’t think that they would last as long as that.